Officer Steven Hart was on a team of officers dispatched to check on the well-being of 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain after his medical alert device went off.
Instead of helping the sick man, police wound up shooting him after he refused to let officers into his apartment. Police said Chamberlain armed himself with a knife and hatchet, then charged when the officers broke down his door.
Hart is accused of hurling a racial slur at Chamberlain during the incident. He wasn't the one who fired the fatal shot.
Hart's attorney, John Pappalardo, tells The Journal News (http://lohud.us/OORYkg ) that the officer is no racist and denies using the slur.
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